The Adventures of Team Parker

Now that we can count the number of days we have left in Chicago on two hands, we’re starting to wonder how we’re going to cart all our stuff up and down. At the moment everything is still in cupboards but we came to Chicago with

• a duffel bag
• a large travel backpack
• an overnight bag
• a laptop bag
• a box containing Sameer’s Xbox
• a guitar case

The duffel bag was a great investment since we were able to squeeze loads of things into it and it has wheels which make it easy to pull around.

Our backpacks were purchased years ago when we still had delusions of backpacking around the world but we’ve now realized that they minimize the number of things you can pack in them and would have been a lot easier to lug around if, in addition to all the back straps, sling straps and handles, they had a set of wheels on them.

The overnight bag was a gift from Sameer’s classmates last year for the Stats classes he ran on weekends and it has been a godsend. It is the most amazing thing – small enough to take onboard with you, yet large enough to fit enough clothes in it to last two people for a week.

The laptop bag is self explanatory. It is non negotiable simply because we need to carry the laptop as well as all the adapter plugs, chargers and cords that we have for various gadgets.

Sameer’s Xbox. Another non-negotiable. Well, actually I think we could technically have done without it if we really had to but it’s certainly given both of us hours and hours of play time. I just wish there was a better way to transport it rather than in a box, which requires both arms to carry.

The guitar case should alas never have come. I thought that my lack of things to do here would give me the perfect opportunity to practice chords and learn to play but I never found a class to attend in the area. Also, I lost the tuner somewhere along the way and there was always some reason not to buy one while here so I never ended up playing it. Instead, I spent loads of time surfing the net.

This may not seem like a lot of stuff (or maybe it does) but when you consider that we only have two pairs of arms and two backs between us, you may see the problem.

When we went from Cambridge to Lamiese’s house in Welwyn Garden City back in April we still had an extra backpack (which is currently sitting in Lamiese’s roof until we go back to Cape Town). And this is how we did it – in two trips. We spent an evening at Lamiese’s house two weeks before we left Cambridge. On that trip, we took (in addition to the overnight bag we were actually using) the box containing the Xbox and one of the backpacks with us, and left them there. Then, on the night we actually left Cambridge, Sameer carried the other backpack and pulled the overnight bag (which we still had) while I carried the laptop bag and my guitar, and pulled the duffel bag. When we left for the Chicago, Lamiese drove us to bus stop where we caught an express bus to Heathrow airport so everything went from her car, onto the bus, and then onto a trolley. When we leave here though, I’m not sure how we’re actually going to do it.

We could have me carry the laptop bag, the guitar and the overnight bag while Sameer shoulders the backpack and carries the Xbox. But that leaves the duffel bag.

Or, have me carry the backpack, the guitar and the overnight bag while Sameer carries the laptop bag and pulls the duffel bag. But that leaves only one arm for the Xbox.

Or… I’m out of ideas. But come July, we’re going to have to take all that stuff back to London with us and somehow maneuver onto a tube train, then onto a national rail train, then through a mall (where the train station is) and into a cab to Lams house. And then when it’s time to go back to SA, find a way to do it all over again but this time, with an additional backpack (the one that’s still in Lamiese’s roof).

If we’d known that we weren’t relocating proper, we really wouldn’t have brought this much stuff with us but when we came over to the UK we really thought it was for the long term. Now we have to lug all our essentials back to SA with us again.

I keep trying to think of ways to minimize the items we have to carry. We considered sending things back to Cape Town via freight but it’s really expensive and since 911, many companies in the US have issues shipping personal effects. But then we discovered the US Post Office. They have the most wonderful flat rates for packages sent by post. So we bought a medium sized box for all the books we’ve accumulated and big box in which to put all the heavy clothes that we definitely won’t need over summer. This included winter coats, jerseys, thermal underwear and ski suits. That certainly took a weight off our shoulders as far as packing space was concerned (no pun intended) but it hasn’t actually reduced the number of items we’re carrying.

I think the biggest obstacle we have is the box for Sameer’s Xbox but we can’t post it because we don’t want to risk losing it along the way. That’ll be coming on the plane with us. Fine while it’s in the cargo hold, not so fine when you have to carry it around in your arms like a baby.

That leaves the clothing. I’m hoping – fingers crossed – that we’ll somehow be able to pack all the remaining clothes into the backpack and then stuff the backpack into the duffel bag. Because most of what’s left is cottoney stuff, I don’t think it will be too big of a problem. It’s the shoes I’m worried about because we’ve been accumulating those since we arrived. But even so, I don’t think we have enough arms and backs to go around.

I’ve tried to convince Sameer to mail more of the stuff back to SA but his argument is that the airline allows us 22kg of weight each, we might as well use them. It’s not the weight that I’m worried about (we came here with only 20kg between us), it’s the number of items we each have to carry. It’s times like these when I wish we could hire a footman or bell hop or something.